Appearing on CNN Monday, Brotman told host Carol Costello that he was shocked and distraught when he first learned that he would not be this year’s parade announcer.

“I looked at at my email, then I got the shock of my life,” he told CNN. “I felt like Muhammad Ali had hit me in the stomach.”

Brotman went on to tell Costello that, while he believed Ray would do an excellent job in his place, he was “really disappointed because I thought I would be the announcer.”

“When I read the email, I thought I was going to commit suicide,” he said. “It was really terrible… I’ve been doing it for 60 years, and no one has asked me if I was a Democrat, Republican, or Independent.”